A resident of Brookshaw Home has reported that a conman is walking the streets of Grahamstown targeting elderly women.
A resident of Brookshaw Home has reported that a conman is walking the streets of Grahamstown targeting elderly women.
The resident, who prefers to remain anonymous, says that the charming, soft-spoken conman is at least fifty-years old. He is tall with a grey moustache and usually wears a blue beanie.
Carrying an empty 2 litre soft drink container, he approaches his victims with a story about having run out of petrol. He says that he only needs R12 to buy petrol so that he can get his car going again. Sometimes he asks for a lift back to the petrol station and then, while he is being driven across town, he manages to steal the purse out of the woman’s bag.
Last week, the conman almost managed to sneak his way into a flat at Brookshaw Home where the front gate had not been working properly. He knocked at the door of one of the residents and asked for warm water to remove grease from the gate. She closed the door behind her when she went into the kitchen to get the water, but as she handed the water over, he accidentally dropped the bucket knowing the owner of the flat would go back to the kitchen.
When the woman went back, she forgot to close the door allowing the conman to sneak into the flat. When she realized that he had come into the flat, she immediately stepped out of the kitchen and instructed him to leave.
The man left the premises after being caught. The Brookshaw Home resident said that although the man stole purses and other property from elderly people, he at no stage physically threatened any of his victims.
